• 80 ideas

Metamorphosis Drawing Ideas

Three changes to draw per press, each with how many boxes it takes and the shape both ends share.

Metamorphosis Drawing Ideas

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  1. A snowman melting into a puddle that reflects a summer skyFive boxes. He slumps, then spreads. The last puddle holds a sun and the carrot.
  2. Your own hand slowly turning into a tree branchSix boxes from life. Knuckles become knots, nails become buds. The last box has leaves.
  3. A melting ice cube that leaves a puddle shaped like a lakeFour boxes. Round the corners, lower the cube, spread the water. Add a tiny boat in the last.

Next step Weird combinations to drawTurn the change into a flipbook

All 80 ideas

One thing into another 21

  • A ball of yarn unraveling into a sheep Five boxes. The loose end draws the legs and face. The ball stays as the woolly body.
  • A button becoming a wheel, then a whole car Six boxes. The four holes become the hub. Build the car round the wheel one part at a time.
  • A candle flame growing into a fox's tail Five boxes. Keep the teardrop shape throughout. Add the white tip, then a fox round it.
  • A clock face rounding into a full moon Four boxes. Remove two numbers per box and add one crater. The hands fade last.
  • A guitar that melts into a river Six boxes. The strings become currents and the sound hole becomes a whirlpool.
  • A hand whose fingers turn into five pencils One drawing. Thumb unchanged. Each finger along is more pencil: a point, then a painted barrel.
  • A key that stretches into a skyscraper Six boxes. The teeth become balconies and the round bow becomes a rooftop dome.
  • A ladder softening into a railway line that runs to the horizon Four boxes. Lay the ladder down and let the rails meet at a point.
  • A leaf whose veins become the streets of a town One drawing. Natural at the stalk, mapped at the tip. Tiny roofs fill the spaces between veins.
  • A light bulb ripening into a pear Five boxes. Both share one outline. Swap the screw cap for a stalk and the filament for a core.
  • A paper crane unfolding back into a flat square Five boxes, read backward. Each step has fewer folds. Keep the crease lines on the final square.
  • A pencil that turns into a rocket across five frames Five boxes. The point becomes the nose cone, the eraser band becomes fins. Flames only in the last box.
  • A sneaker turning into a sailboat Six boxes. The sole is the hull, the tongue rises into a sail, and a lace becomes the rope.
  • A spoon bending into a swan Four boxes. The bowl is the body. The handle curves up and over into a neck and head.
  • A staircase that flattens into piano keys Five boxes. Tilt the stairs a little more each time until the steps lie flat, and add black keys last.
  • A teacup whose steam becomes a flock of birds One drawing. Each curl of steam higher up grows a little more wing until the top ones fly off.
  • A tree whose roots become a city's subway map One drawing. Above ground stays natural. Below, the roots straighten, turn at angles and gain station dots.
  • A zipper that unzips a lake into a road One drawing seen from above. Closed teeth are the water's edge, and behind the slider it is tarmac.
  • An ice cream cone flipping over into a party hat Four boxes. Turn it a quarter each time. The scoop shrinks to a pompom.
  • An umbrella opening into a jellyfish Four boxes. The canopy is the bell. The handle frays into trailing arms.
  • Your own hand slowly turning into a tree branch Six boxes from life. Knuckles become knots, nails become buds. The last box has leaves.

Animal into object 16

  • A bat folding into a closed umbrella Five boxes. The wing ribs become the umbrella's ribs. The feet hook into a handle.
  • A butterfly whose wings become an open book Four boxes. The body is the spine. Wing patterns straighten into lines of writing.
  • A cat curling up until it is a loaf of bread Five boxes. Tuck in the legs, then the tail, then the ears. Score the top last.
  • A dragonfly becoming a helicopter Five boxes. Four wings blur into one rotor. The long tail stays a tail.
  • A fish swapping scales for feathers until it is a bird Six boxes. One shared teardrop body. Fins lengthen into wings and the tail fans out.
  • A flamingo straightening into a floor lamp Five boxes. One leg is the stand, the body is the shade, and the neck becomes the cord.
  • A hedgehog rolling up into a chestnut case Four boxes. The spines stay. The face disappears as it rolls, and the case splits in the last box.
  • A peacock's tail closing into a hand of playing cards Five boxes. Each feather squares off into a card. The eye spots become suit marks.
  • A penguin turning into a bowling pin Four boxes. They nearly share an outline already. Lose the flippers, then the beak, then add stripes.
  • A snail shell unwinding into a winding road One drawing. The spiral opens out across the page, gaining a centre line and a roadside tree.
  • A tortoise whose shell becomes a camping tent Four boxes. The shell plates turn into panels, the head into a lantern at the door.
  • A whale turning into a submarine Five boxes. Same long oval. The spout becomes a periscope, the eye a porthole.
  • A zebra whose stripes peel off into a barcode One drawing. Stripes leave the rump, straighten in the air and line up with numbers beneath.
  • An elephant whose trunk becomes a watering can Five boxes. The ear is the handle, the trunk is the spout, and water starts in the last box.
  • An octopus becoming a chandelier Six boxes. Flip it upside down in box two. Each arm curls up to hold a candle.
  • An owl whose eyes become the wheels of a bicycle Six boxes. The two rings never move. The beak becomes the seat and the body thins to a frame.

Real changes in nature 14

  • A bean sprouting in a jar, day by day Six boxes. Root down first, then a hooked shoot, then two leaves that open above the rim.
  • A bud opening into a full flower in five stages Five boxes, same stem height. Peel one more layer of petals outward in each.
  • A cloud building from a wisp to a thunderhead Five boxes. Add a bump each time and darken the base. Rain falls only from the last.
  • A dandelion from yellow flower to seed head to bare stem Three boxes. Packed petals, then a globe of fine lines, then a dotted stalk with two seeds leaving.
  • A green leaf turning red, then brown, then to a skeleton of veins Four boxes, same outline. Coloured pencil for the first three, fine pen alone for the last.
  • A mushroom pushing up from a button to an open cap Four boxes on one ground line. The cap starts as a ball and flattens as the stem lengthens.
  • A pine cone opening as it dries Four boxes. Shut tight in the first. Tilt every scale out a little more in each box.
  • A seed, a sprout, a sapling and a tree on one ground line One long drawing. Show the roots below the line in every stage, growing too.
  • A sunflower from tight bud to heavy seed head Four boxes. The head faces up, then out, then hangs. Petals shrivel as the centre darkens.
  • A tadpole growing legs across six steps Six boxes. Back legs first, then front, then the mouth widens. The tail shortens to nothing last.
  • A tulip from bulb to bloom Five boxes with a cutaway of soil. The bulb stays put while the shoot, leaves and cup rise.
  • An egg cracking into a chick across four frames Four boxes. One crack, a zigzag, a beak through the gap, then the chick standing beside two shell halves.
  • Egg, caterpillar, chrysalis and butterfly arranged round one leaf One drawing. Place the four stages clockwise round the leaf with a small arrow between each.
  • The moon from new to full in eight circles Draw round a coin eight times. Shade all of the first, a little less of each, none of the last.

Wearing, melting, growing 13

  • A balloon from flat to full to popped Five boxes. Limp, half, full, too full, then scraps and a bang shape.
  • A banana ripening from green to spotted Five boxes, one outline traced five times. Only the colour and the number of spots change.
  • A building site going from a hole to a tower Six boxes. Add two floors per box. The machines stay at the bottom until the last.
  • A candle whose drips pile up into a mountain Five boxes. The candle shortens and the wax below builds ridges, then a snow line.
  • A day turning to night across one landscape One wide drawing. Morning at the left edge, stars at the right, and the same hills all the way.
  • A melting ice cube that leaves a puddle shaped like a lake Four boxes. Round the corners, lower the cube, spread the water. Add a tiny boat in the last.
  • A new sneaker wearing out over a year Four boxes. Add creases, then a frayed lace, then a hole at the toe and a peeling sole.
  • A pencil sharpened down to a stub, shavings piling up Six boxes. The pencil shortens as the heap beside it grows by the same amount.
  • A puddle drying to a ring Four boxes from above. The edge pulls inward each time and leaves a faint line where it was.
  • A pumpkin carved, lit, then sagging Four boxes. Whole, cut, glowing, slumped. The grin droops with it.
  • A sandcastle washed flat by four waves Five boxes. Round the towers a little more after each wave. The flag goes last.
  • A snowman melting into a puddle that reflects a summer sky Five boxes. He slumps, then spreads. The last puddle holds a sun and the carrot.
  • A sweater unraveling back into a ball of yarn Five boxes. The hem goes first. The ball grows as the sweater shrinks.

Letters and numbers 16

  • A capital T thickening into a hammer Four boxes. The top bar gains weight and a flat face. The stem gets a grip.
  • A lowercase b flipping to d, then p, then q Seven boxes. Show each halfway turn between the letters, like a coin spinning.
  • A musical note swelling into a pair of cherries Four boxes. A pair of joined notes already has two heads and a bar, which becomes the stalks.
  • A plus sign turning into a windmill Five boxes. Rotate the cross a little each time, widen the arms into sails, and add the tower.
  • A question mark straightening into an exclamation point Five boxes. Unhook the curl a little at a time. The dot never moves.
  • A word that turns into the thing it names Five boxes. Try CAT or TREE. Bend one letter per box toward the part of the picture it resembles.
  • A zero hatching like an egg Four boxes. Crack, wider crack, two halves, and a small number 1 stepping out.
  • An ampersand untying into a length of string Five boxes. Loosen the crossing first, then pull both ends out straight.
  • The letter A opening into a tent Four boxes. The crossbar becomes a door flap, and guy ropes and pegs arrive last.
  • The letter M rising into a mountain range Four boxes. Stretch the two peaks unevenly, add snow lines, then a small sun behind.
  • The letter O filling in to become an orange Four boxes. Thicken the ring inward, add dimples, then a stalk and a leaf.
  • The letter S growing into a snake Four boxes. Add a head at the top end, a forked tongue, then a pattern along the curve.
  • The number 2 becoming a swan Four boxes. The flat base is the water line. Add a beak, an eye and a raised wing.
  • The number 8 pulling apart into two rings, then two wheels Five boxes. Separate the loops, add spokes, and join them with a frame in the last.
  • The word RAIN dissolving into falling drops One drawing. Crisp letters at the top. Lower down, each stroke breaks into dashes, then drops.
  • Your initial growing roots and leaves until it is a tree Six boxes. Keep the letter's shape as the trunk so it can still be read at the end.

How it works

A metamorphosis drawing shows one thing becoming another in steps, and the project stands or falls on the pair you choose. These 80 are picked because both ends share a shape: a light bulb and a pear, a penguin and a bowling pin.

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Start from the shape both ends share

Draw the first and last boxes before any of the middle ones. Then find what stays put: the two rings that are an owl's eyes and a bicycle's wheels, the long oval of a whale and a submarine. Change one feature per box and leave the shared shape alone.

Morphing drawing ideas in four to six boxes

Every hint gives a number of boxes. Four is enough when the outlines nearly match, as with the letter A opening into a tent. Six suits a bigger jump, such as a key that stretches into a skyscraper. The middle box should look like neither thing and both.

  • Trace the first box onto the second and change it there. Each box then starts from the last.
  • Rule the boxes the same size before you begin, and number them lightly in a corner.

Questions and answers

What is a metamorphosis drawing?

A sequence in which one subject changes into another a little at a time, usually across four to six boxes. It is a common art class project. Every step has to be believable on its own, so plan the middle before you ink.

Which transformation drawing ideas are easiest?

Choose Easy in the list under the button for 31 where the two ends almost share an outline: a spoon bending into a swan, the number 2 becoming a swan, a button becoming a wheel, an umbrella opening into a jellyfish.

Can I draw a real metamorphosis instead?

Yes. Real changes in nature holds 14, including a tadpole growing legs across six steps and the egg, caterpillar, chrysalis and butterfly arranged round one leaf. Work from photographs so each stage is right.

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